Bad Boys Don't Smile Klance
by selfishghosts
Summary: Keith and Lance's lives are changed after they are paired for an English assignment. Both learn truths about themselves and each other. K/L High School AU
1. Chapter 1: no

Chapter 1: No

Today was a special day. It was one of the rare days when Keith actually showed to class rather than wandering around the halls or smoking behind the school with his group. Ironically, today was also the day his English teacher was announcing there was a project.

Keith was about the same height as most the boys in his grade. However, he was much stronger than most and more feared. Rumors about the dirty and horrible things he's "done" flew around the school like you'd expect snowflakes to fly around in a snowstorm. When all this first started Keith was quite shocked at this, but by now, he's become indifferent. As the squeaky voice of Mrs. Lewis, his English teacher, was about to irritate him to the point of standing up and leaving, he heard they had to do a project to pass the semester. Meaning, if they did the project, they didn't have to pass the 200-question final. As much as he didn't want to do a stupid project with a stupid and most likely vexatious partner, he did not want to do 200 questions about things he wasn't here for. So, Keith was forced to stay for this, since Lewis did say she picked the partners already.

Keith took out his notebook for the class and a pen, resting his head on his hand he decided to draw.

"Class, I will now announce the pairs I have selected for this project" Lewis chirped excitedly as every single student in the class groaned in annoyance.

After the woman listed the names of classmates Keith did not even know, he heard a few kids cheer. He looked up and saw 'The Trio', as he called them, high fiving each other. Clearly two of them got paired together. He gave them a sour look and went back to drawing a young boy's face, littering it with freckles. Lewis continued reading off names as Keith finished the drawing. He cringed at it. It looked like somebody he hated. He ripped out the page and crumpled it up slamming the pen on his desk and throwing the crumpled paper on the floor.

Keith tuned out Lewis by putting in his earbuds and blasting his music. He continued drawing whatever floated to his mind until he felt somebody tap his on the shoulder, although it reminded him more of a poke. A tall boy was standing over him, Keith always thought the lanky boy looked like a thin tree about to snap with the slightest breeze.

"Hey, uh," Lance paused and scratched the back of his neck, "Lewis paired us together on this, but it's okay if you don't want to do it I'll gladly just put your name on it."

Keith gave Lance a look as bitter as dark roast coffee with no cream or milk as he said, "And what makes you think that I'm not going to do any work for this, uhhh," he tried to remember the name of the quite irking boy when he cut in.

"Lance, it's Lance."

"Right, Lance," he paused, "what makes you think I just want you do all the work and slap my name on it?" he asked again.

"I don't know it just seemed like it," he said, his tan face turning slightly red in embarrassment, "Sorry."

"it's fine, I don't care anyway" Keith scoffed and tossed his notebook and pen back in his bag.

"Would you do me a favor and uh," he stopped to throw his bag over his shoulder, "Get us both rubrics for this stupid thing and meet me out front in the student parking area after school."

"Actually I- "Lance started.

"That wasn't a question, it was a statement," Keith said as he made direct eye contact with Lance. Keith's dark eyebrows drawn together over his dark nearly-purple hued eyes as they met the bright blue ones of the, now slightly trembling, boy. Lance gulped and nodded, clearly scared of Keith.

As Keith left the classroom unnoticed, Lance breathed a sigh of relief, his friends Hunk and Pidge rushed over to him bombarding him with questions.

Outside of the classroom, Keith let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, he shrugged and started walking out of the building and to the back of the school. He felt like he needed to escape from his mind, it felt like it was going 500 kilometers per hour. Arriving at his spot Keith took his prescriptions out of his bag, taking one of each. He took a bottle out of his bag and has a drink of water to wash down the pills. He took out a cigarette and a lighter. He flicked it, it sparked. He lit his cigarette. He took a deep breath, the cigarette between his lips. He exhaled, the smoke escaped his slightly opened lips and dissolved in the air, enveloping him in a white haze for a moment.

He finished smoking and tossed the nearly-empty box of cigarettes back into his bag. He pulled out a tin of mints and popped one into his mouth. He stood up, allowing one strap of his bag to fall over his shoulder to hold. He started walking off into the art building of the school when a hand managed to grab onto the sleeve of his black windbreaker. Keith turned around ready to punch whoever it was in the face.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Keith exclaimed in shocked and lowered his fist which had hit the boy in front of him right below the ribs.

"You uh, you" he gasped and tried to catch his breath, bent over, doubled in pain with an arm over his stomach.

"Stop coughing I didn't even hit you that hard," he glared at Lance who was almost wheezing on the floor, his eyes squeezed shut in pain.

Lance looked up at Keith "Easy for you to say," he smiled "You were the one doing the punching after all."

"Aren't you in pain?" asked Keith confused, "Why are you smiling?"

"Because," Lance paused for a second to slowly stand up while still leaving his hand over his stomach, "it's funny."

"What?" now Keith was even more confused "What's funny about me punching you?"

"It's not the reaction you'd expect from someone when you're just trying to return their artwork to them" said Lance as he extended the paper Keith had thrown onto the floor to him.

"Why are you walking around picking up my trash?" Keith mumbled in anger snatching the paper from Lance.

"Dunno, thought you might want it back, I couldn't help but look" Lance said as he started to massage his stomach with both hands now "It's really good by the way, looks like me if I had star shaped freckles, if I'm being honest."

"Then don't be honest," Keith growled, displeased.

"I'm okay though, thanks for asking" Lance flashed another smile at Keith.

"You're supposed to be in class, if I'm correct" Keith commented as he turned and started walking away from Lance.

"Oh shit!" Lance exclaimed "uh, um, I gotta run back I told Lewis I was going to the bathroom, bye"

Lance started to sprint back to his class. Keith kept his eyes focused straight ahead.

Keith arrived at the art hallway. He opened the door which was painted with a pattern of bright yellow sunflowers. He walked into the hallway, paintings hanging everywhere, he looked at the new things the teachers had hung up. He frowned at most of them, he thought they weren't worthy of being on the walls. Well, not worthy of replacing the things they did.

He opened the door to Mr. Takashi's room and walked in.

"Keith, do you have a pass to be here?" asked Shirogane, not looking up from his computer where he was inputting grades.

"But Shiro I-" Keith was cut off.

"It's Mr. Takashi, and Keith," he stopped to peer at Keith over the rim of his glasses "You're already months ahead of everybody in projects, I think it's time you slow down for a bit."

He fixed his glasses, pushing them up with his finger back up onto his nose and looking back at his monitor screen, "But if you want, your painting's where it usually is."

"Thank you, sh-" Keith stopped himself, "Mr. Takashi."

Mr. Takashi nodded and Keith walked to the back of the classroom, his canvas already set up. Keith took out oil paints, paint thinner, brushes, a palette, and a palette knife. He dropped the palette and it made a loud noise as it contacted the floor, heads turned to the back. Nobody had noticed Keith in the classroom until that moment, the atmosphere went tense immediately. Heads snapped back to projects immediately as they recognized who'd made the noise. Keith sighed and picked up the palette.

He no longer felt comfortable, he put away his things and rushed out of the class. He felt like he needed to calm down, what has ever worked for him?

He rushed around the halls, trying to find something to do. The bell for the next class rang. He finally settled for going to the sports fields and watching his best, well, only, friend practice.

It was near the end of October, so it was still hot out in the afternoon. Keith took off his jacket and stuffed it into his bag, he tied up his hair. It was starting to grow out longer than he would prefer but he didn't care that much. He did not care how a few strands of his hair didn't tie up and just hung around his face in loose waves either.

He walked around, seeing a Physical Education class of freshmen trying to throw frisbees around to each other. Keith chuckled to himself as he saw a short boy get whacked straight in the face because he wasn't paying attention. He continued past the tennis courts and walked straight through the tracks, which made quite a few people stumble and be forced to slow down. He then finally arrived at the soccer fields. He tossed his bag on the glass and sat down. He bent his knees slightly and loosely threw his arms around them and squinted to attempt to make out the only familiar shape on the field.

Then he spotted her. With mocha skin contrasting platinum hair which was currently tied into a bun, Allura was dribbling the soccer ball closer to the goal. She kicked it with extreme force, the ball flew right past the goalie's face and hit the net.

The coach blew his whistle "Take five everybody, great play!" he shouted.

Everybody calmly walked to their sports bags to get water. Allura spotted Keith sitting in the only shady spot on the field and decided to sit next to him.

"What you sulkin' for, Kogane?" she said in her thick British accent as she took her hair out of her bun to redo it.

"I'm sulkin' cause of how bad your hair smells" he mocked her accent and she elbowed him lightly.

"Watch it," she warned him.

"Okay okay," he sighed "We have to do a stupid language arts project and I'm paired with the school goody two shoes."

Allura tightened her bun and wiped the sweat off her face with her shirt "Oh no, your life is so hard" she said sarcastically and it was Keith's turn to elbow her.

"Watch it," he said.

Allura started drinking her water and Keith continued, "He's so annoying I literally hate him so much, he's too nice to everybody and he laughs at the dumbest damn things and he thinks he's so funny when he's-" Keith's complaining was cut short by the coach blowing his whistle.

"Sorry darlin" said Allura as she got up to jog back to the field, "Coach demands me back."

"Make sure those shorts don't Mar too far" Keith teased and Allura laughed loudly as she jogged back out into the field.

Keith watched the soccer team practice for a while. He checked the time after a while. Ten minutes.

He got up shouted "Bye" to Allura who responded with a wave which caused her to miss a pass to her teammate.

He walked through the track and back out into the hallways. He walked out to the student parking lot and leaved back on his car. He lit a cigarette and started smoking. The smoke curled from his mouth to round his nose and floating in front of the rest of his face.

The bell rang. The smoke continued flowing. Keith turned away and looked at all the students file out of the school gates chatting with each other. Some heading for the buses, some for their cars, some walked.

"Keith!" someone called out, Keith snapped his head towards where he heard his name, he spotted Lance. Keith rolled his eyes and took one last drag before taking his cigarette out of his mouth and throwing it on the floor. He stomped on it to extinguish it and at the same moment Lance arrived.

He scrunched up his face "Why does it smell like smoke? Ew" he said.

Keith sighed "You don't get any dumber do you". He took out his car keys and pressed the button to unlock it. Keith got in and tossed his backpack into the backseat. Lance opened the passenger door and sat down, he set his bag between his feet. They put on their seatbelts and Keith started the car, he pulled out of the school and started driving to his house.

"Can I play some music?" asked Lance to break the silence, he was smiling, like always.

"No" Keith answered with a frown.

"Come on, please?" Lance continued "I promise it'll put a smile on that grumpy face"

"No," Keith repeated "And who do you think you are to speak to me like that?"

"A classmate?" Lance chirped "A friend? Yes?"

"No"

"Maybe so it is"

"What will it take for you to leave me alone while I drive?" said Keith in irritation.

"Let me play my music" said Lance as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Fine," Keith extended the aux cord to Lance.

Lance took out his phone and plugged the aux cord in. The car's stereo started blasting "Tropics" by Mantaraybryn. Keith rolled his eyes and ignored the music choice, at least Lance stopped talking.

One couldn't imagine Keith's surprise when he started to slightly tap the rhythm with his fingers on the steering wheel. He noticed Lance grinning at him and immediately stopped. They arrived at Keith's house and he pulled into the driveway and parked the car there.

Keith grabbed his bag from the back and pulled out his house key. They got out of the car and Keith unlocked his front door and walked in.

"Shoes off when you walk in" Keith said and Lance nodded taking off his shoes as soon as he walked into the house and leaving them neatly next to each other.

"Dad's on a trip to New York, shooting another episode of his show" commented Keith as he started upstairs to get to his room.

"Oh my god, your dad is THE Copernicus Kogane?" Lance asked, "The Copernicus Kogane who plays the red king?"

"Yeah, I don't care about his show, it's boring" Keith said as Lance started to follow him up.

"What? No way! It's the best show around" Lance exclaimed.

"Will you shut up?" Keith lashed out in anger.

"Sorry," Lance mumbled and walked into Keith's room with him.

Keith looked at his room, it was clean. Much unlike you'd expect an artist's to be. Some markers and colored pencils lay around his table along with a few piles of drawings. Most things were neatly put away into their respective cups or drawers. A few jackets and socks littered his floor or hung on his chair. Keith dropped his bag and sat on one of the beanbags. He gestured for Lance to sit on the other one, he nodded in return and sat down taking two sheets of paper out of his bag.

"Rubrics" he said extending one to Keith who took it and glanced over it.

The project was supposed to shed light on a current modern issue with the use of a visual aid in the form of a comic strip, an essay, and a short documentary. It was due at the end of November, giving them about a month to do it.

"So, uh, what do you want to do for our topic?" Lance asked.

"Don't know, don't care, your choice" Keith answered.

"Okay, uh," Lance paused to think "Why not do homophobia?"

Keith looked up at the other boy, Lance looked uncomfortable and as if he was asked a question he'd choke up and cry. As much as Keith hated him, he didn't want to deal with somebody crying.


	2. Chapter 2: sure

Chapter 2: Sure

Keith just stared at Lance. The boy was looking at the floor so intensely Keith began to be afraid he would melt a hole in the floor any second. Keith stood up and walked over to Lance, he had dealt with situations like this all the time with Allura. Keith placed a hand on Lance's shoulder. The boy turned his head to Keith and flashed him a wide grin and chuckled slightly, Keith was yet again asking himself,

What in the world could he find so funny?

He couldn't help but ask "what's so funny?"

"It's just that uh," he sniffled, "Like two and a half hours ago you punched me in the stomach and said it wasn't even that hard but now I'm literally on the verge of tears for no reason in your bedroom and you're putting your hand on my shoulder."

Noticing his hand was still on Lance's shoulder he jerked it off like one would off a hot stove.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

Keith sat back into his own beanbag and both turned their gazes to the floor. Keith felt as if his nerves were knives, he needed to cut the tension in the atmosphere. He felt like he shouldn't be in the room. Lance looked so vulnerable Keith felt any word he'd say would be forever imprinted in an ugly black mark on the other boy's skin. Keith felt bad for even breathing, he felt like he was invading something personal. He was uncomfortable. He felt like he was suffocating, he needed to throw the windows open and take big gulps of air. Keith needed to escape this situation. He peeled his eyes off the floor and looked at Lance.

He looked like a statue, in Keith's opinion. He looked frozen still, he looked like he had been crafted by one of the ancient masters, every hair strand and every fold of the cloth considered. Keith laughed at himself mentally, did he really just think a sculpting master would build a boy sitting in jeans and a hoodie?

He guesses so.

Keith was so lost in a mental debate of whether a sculpting master from the old times would build such a thing that he did not notice the door open downstairs. He didn't notice Lance's head snapping up and then asking Keith what that noise was.

"Keith!" Lance finally snapped Keith's thoughts back from his small argument with himself.

"What do you want?" he barked back.

"I heard a noise downstairs, what was that?" Lance looked uncomfortable.

"Oh," Keith said in a relaxed tone "It's probably just my little sister getting home, don't worry about it."

"Alright Keith," Lance smiled, he got up and sat down on Keith's bed instead.

He was back to normal "Let's work on the project, it's what I came over for isn't it?"

Keith nodded and walked over to his table taking his laptop off it and opening it.

"Let's do least pleasant part first," he said as he typed in his password, "Essay."

Lance's phone made a whole bunch loud noises indicating notifications and they both jumped at the noise, Lance picked up his phone.

"it's just my mom" he said as he read the text, "She wants to know when I'm going to be home."

"That's an awful lot for just your mom" Keith commented, "Tell her in a couple of hours."

"Oh, and my friends want to know if I'm getting murdered by the school's outcast" he said laughing slightly to himself.

Keith looked down and sighed, he forgot people feared him for a moment.

"How are you not afraid of me?" Keith asked without looking up from his lap.

Lance lowered his phone where he had just been taking a selfie to reassure Hunk and Pidge he was still alive and looked questioningly at Keith.

"Because," he paused and Keith looked up at him, making eye contact and glancing back down, "I know you're not as bad as everyone says you are."

Keith looked up at Lance with a puzzled look, "And how do you know that?" he paused, "How do you know I haven't murdered someone, or, or beat up the mayor of this town, or any of the other things people accuse me of? For all you know, I really did all that but it's just been covered up well because my dad is famous and they don't want a scandal."

Lance shrugged, "I just know" he smiled at Keith again "It's the same way I'm not as nice and confident as everybody says I am, Pidge isn't as smart as everyone says, and Hunk, well it doesn't apply to Hunk, he's as much a sweetheart as everyone says he is."

Keith nodded, "I guess it applies," he looked back at his laptop screen "I haven't by the way."

"Haven't what?" Lance asked, not understanding.

"I haven't done any of the things people accuse me of" Keith said flatly.

"I mean, that's just obvious," Lance laughed at Keith, "There is no way somebody could've done all of the things people say you have no matter how hard everybody tried to cover it up."

The door opened and both their heads snapped to it.

A tallish girl with hair as dark as Keith's was standing in the doorway. She had a thin nose, dark eyebrows and a lot of eyeshadow and other make up smacked on her face.

"O-m-g" she pulled up her phone and immediately look a picture before either could comprehend wat was happening, "My brother has somebody over who isn't the tall lesbian, Al-what's-her-face"

"Hello to you too, uh" Lance paused "Keith's sister."

"Rachel," she said not looking up from her phone, evidently texting as her fake nails made clicking sounds against the screen, "And you are?"

"Lance, Lance McClain," he said smiling, Rachel looked up from her phone and raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't need your last name, weirdo lol" she laughed to herself and turned back to her phone and started to turn around, "See you later, toodles." She said walking out of the doorway and shutting the door behind herself.

"I know, no nice way to say it" Keith said in a light-hearted tone and Lance grinned at him.

"Do that again!"

"Do what again?"

"Speak like you're happy"

"What makes you think I'm not?" Keith asked, focusing on keeping his voice monotone.

"You just don't seem like it and," Lance paused clearly considering whether or not he should say something.

"Oh come on just spit it out," Keith said in irritation.

"I, uh, I saw all your,um," Lance stopped talking not knowing what to say further, well, he knew he just didn't know how to say it.

"Medications? Is that it? Is that what you're trying to say you insufferable buffoon?" he said angrily at Lance.

"I uh," Lance stuttered and stumbled on his words "I shouldn't have said anything about it I'm sorry I'm so sorry"  
"It's fine, you asked so I'll get into it I assume," Keith set his laptop from his lap back onto his table and sat bag down on the beanbag now facing Lance, "Get comfortable, this could be long."

Lance nodded and leaned back on the headboard of Keith's bed.

"Well, you're actually right, I'm not happy. My father's been absent throughout most of my life, Rachel has barely seen him, she's grown up with me and maybe our house maid as role models, I developed mental illnesses when I was her age and went on medication, when I go to parties I get fucked up on anything and everything, and I've been smoking cigarettes for about three years and I am just-" suddenly, he stopped. Something snapped inside Keith and he just became quiet.

Lance was concerned, he could tell Keith was hurting, something was wrong with him, well, not something, almost everything was wrong.

Keith looked up, something new seemed to glow in his eyes.

"How am I comfortable with you?" he asked.

It would be an understatement to say Lance was caught off guard by the sudden question.

"I uh, I don't know," Lance gave him a light smile," I guess I'm just that much of a comforting presence."

Keith looked down, clearly focused on coming up with an answer to the question. He racked is brain for any possible explanation. He looked at the tan boy sitting the length of his bed away and then back at the floor.

"fuck," he whispered under his breath.

"Fuck what? Me? I get it I'm gorgeous and irresistible but don't go that far," Lance chuckled in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"No, it's not that," Keith ran a hand through his hair and realized he still had it up, he tugged out the hair tie with quite some effort and ran his hands through his hair, going from the roots to the ends.

"Wow, you look like my sister right now," Lance remarked as Keith glanced up at him and gave him an angered look.

"This really isn't happening right now," Keith placed his face into his palms and sighed, "Fuck, it is."

Lance continued staring at the boy in question "What's the mental torment about? Do you really hate looking like a girl that much? Cause I didn't mean it in a bad way if anything it was a complim-"

"Shut up," Keith said glaring at Lance.

Lance looked down at his lap and mumbled a quiet "Sorry."

"Sorry I'm just very," Keith stopped mid-sentence.

"Well, there's rather no other way to say it but um," Keith looked up at Lance, Lance kept his head down, "Lance!"

Lance's head snapped up and he made direct eye contact with Keith, he could tell a lot was on Keith's mind that he did not want to talk about.

"Never thought I'd be saying this but uh," Keith stumbled on his words and paused.

"Just like you said," Lance smiled a sad smile at Keith "Oh come on just spit it out."

"I guess what I wanted to say is," Keith stopped and got up and walked over to where Lance wwas sitting on the bed and extended his hand towards him.

"Friends?"

"Only if we can be best friends."

"Sure."

Keith wasn't expecting the thin boy to pull him into a hug, especially not a hug this uncomfortable.

Lance had been sitting cross legged on his bed and Keith was standing, this caused for Lance having to wrap his arms around Keith's waist and just press his face against Keith's stomach. Keith plopped the hand that was going in for a hand shake onto Lance's head and he gently messed up Lance's hair.

"You're so bony and uncomfortable," Keith said teasingly "You sure you eat enough?"

"Obviously!" Lance exclaimed in protest quickly letting go of Keith "Both Abuela and Mama will never let anyone leave the table until they are satisfied with how much everybody ate! And Hunk always forces both Pidge and me to eat whatever new creation he came up with!"

"Keith just shook his head and sighed "You've clearly never heard of a thing called sarcasm" said Keith in his most sarcastic tone possible.

"Yes, I have! It's the same as irony and mockery!"

Keith couldn't help but shake his head at the sheer density of this kid's skull.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"It's about six pm" Lance answered as he checked his phone.

"Oh crap, did we really just spend three hours NOT doing our project?"

"Guess so."

"Wow."

"I did tell my mom I'd be home in two hours about an hour after we got here," Lance allowed himself to stop smiling and looked down, fidgeting with the sleeves of his hoodie.

"That's okay," Keith said and Lance looked back up at him, "We still have over a month for this."  
"Why are you so nice to me?" Lance asked, needing an answer as if it was water in a desert, "Why in the world is the bad boy of the school trying to be friends with somebody like me?"

"Because," Keith paused as to think of the best way to form his words, he looked at the floor of his bedroom and said, "You're a nice presence to have around, your constant optimism just makes everything become lighthearted When I punched you, you laughed at it. When you were literally about to cry god knows why, you laughed. You managed to get me so caught up in the moment while talking to you that I revealed a whole bunch of stuff from my private life to you."

Keith tore his eyes off the hardwood floor and looked up at Lance, the boy's face had melted into a smile so bright it could out-glow the sun. Keith mentally slapped himself, no way in hell he thought that THAT boy's smile was bright.

He continued, he felt as if he was going to choke up and cry if he said this sentence, but he braved it, and said it anyway.


	3. Chapter 3: spill

Chapter 3: Spill 

"You're the first person to not look at me as if I'm some sort of monster," he said, immediately shifting his gaze directly back to the floor. He heard rustling and feet contacting the floor followed by footsteps. Keith didn't even have to look up to know Lance was standing in front of him. Keith began picking at the strings of his distressed jeans. He felt the air shift around him. Before he could even blink, Lance had engulfed Keith in a hug.  
"Of course I don't think of you as a monster," Lance mumbled. "You're just a little scary because you're always angry and alone."  
"Well, at least this one's in a less awkward position than the last one."  
"Is it my turn to say, 'Shut up' yet?"  
"Touché."  
Keith remained as he was, his hand still fidgeting. He felt the other boy's cold hands on his back. It made him feel like his body was on fire, but he wasn't even breaking a sweat. He wasn't one for affection. He hated when people touched him. He hated the social norm that you had to shake people's hands and give people hugs as greetings.  
However, just this once, he didn't mind.  
Lance's phone chimed and Keith felt a little disappointed. Lance let go and walked away from Keith to check his phone.  
"Just my mom asking if I'm on my way," Lance said, looking to Keith..  
"Tell her that you are now," Keith said as he stood and started heading for his room's door.  
Lance caught a glimpse of Keith's eyes. They displayed a blend of confusion and woe. He quickly typed a reply, picked up his bag and caught up with Keith, who had already been heading down the stairs. It was still light out, but the sun had started to sink in the sky to the point the blue tones began to dull. Keith stopped for a moment, and Lance walked past Keith. It took a moment for Lance to realize Keith was deep in thought. He looked back, staring with a questioning look. Keith snapped back from his thoughts and walked to the door of his car. Lance put his address into the GPS, and Keith began driving in silence. Both boys' minds were busy with thoughts. They had barely known each other for a few hours but those hours had felt like years.  
"Can you put on your music?" Keith asked.  
"Actually, we're here. Turns out I actually live pretty close," Lance replied.  
"Okay, have a good uh..." Keith paused as Lance started to get out of the car. He got up and bent down slightly to look at Keith through the window. "Rest of your night," Keith finished.  
Lance smiled. "Course I will. You too, though."  
"Thanks."  
Lance shut the car door and Keith remained there. He took out his phone, and went to one of the only contacts.  
He sent a text to Allura. The blue bubble had read:  
"Be round to pick u up in 30, ur staying for 3 days  
Bring as much weed as possible, really need it for tomorrow and the weekend"  
He made sure it said "Delivered" and sat back. He felt like he had too much to think about to properly focus on driving. After a few minutes of allowing his thoughts to take over, he pushed his thoughts aside enough he felt he could drive. He followed the familiar route until he arrived at Allura's house. At this point the sun had mostly sunk. It was barely light and he thought all the colors were uglier than usual. They all blurred together like they were missing something.. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.  
Allura was standing outside with a few duffel bags and a backpack. She was dressed in flip flops, dark grey joggers and a mustard yellow hoodie. Keith noticed her hair was tied into a ponytail and she looked like she had been crying. He pressed a button to open the trunk. She put her bags in and closed it, making Keith cringe at the loud noise. Then she sat in the passenger seat. Keith thought about how a tall, lanky boy had been sitting there a mere few hours ago. He shook his head as if to get rid of the thought and looked at his friend.  
"Thank goodness. I have so much to fucking tell you. I feel like I am going to literally explode," Keith said in a rush.  
"Spill," Allura pressed.  
"When we get to my house."  
They drove in a comfortable silence. Allura stared out the window at street lights, which had turned on, and Keith kept his eyes on the road. When they reached his house, he opened his trunk and Allura got her bags from it. Then they both headed straight for Keith's room. Loud pop music was blaring from Rachel's room but they both chose to ignore it.  
Allura dropped her bags on the floor and laid across Keith's bed, closing her eyes while he sat in the same beanbag he had been sitting in about 40 minutes ago.  
"Why'd you look like you just cried when I picked you up?" Keith asked as he looked at the wall blankly.  
Allura opened her eyes and sat up. "I'm too sober to talk about it."  
"Okay." He paused for a moment and looked at her. "Do you mind if I change first? I don't wanna get high when I'm wearing skinny jeans. They're uncomfortable and I've had a long day."  
"Why? Your sensitive thighs rubbin' together too much?" she asked in a voice that mocked Keith's.  
"Oh shut it," he said jokingly as he got up and walked over to his closet. He pulled out a pair of joggers and a plain t-shirt.  
"Wow, what a casual man," she laughed at him.  
"Shut up." He paused to attempt to find an insult. "Mustard stain."  
Allura laughed at his seemingly stupid joke. Keith changed and sat back down as Allura got up. Keith looked at her and they both nodded. Allura threw Keith a drawstring bag and laid back down on the bed, closing her eyes. He took out a thick jacket and a few t-shirts to reveal a bag with what he estimated was 3 ounces of marijuana. He tossed it on his bed and proceeded to take out a tin he knew contained rolling paper, and 3 lighters.  
"Why three?" he asked looking at them in his hand.  
"Again, too sober to talk about it."  
Keith nodded, dropped the drawstring on the floor and retrieved a book from the bookshelf on the wall behind him. He sat down at the foot of his bed and picked up the tin. He took out 2 pieces of rolling paper and laid them down on top of the hardcover book.  
"We're smoking on behalf of uhh..." He lifted the small rectangles off the top of the book to check the title "Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire."  
"Nice. My favorite one," Allura remarked sarcastically.  
Keith nodded and returned to his task. He opened the bag and the pungent smell hit his nose yet again. Keith picked up a medium-sized bud and crushed it slightly with his fingers, separating gnit into smaller parts before dropping them in the middle of the paper. He repeated it for the other paper and when he was satisfied with the amount on each, he started rolling the papers tightly and twisted the ends. He passed one to Allura and kept one of them in his hand. He picked up two lighters, extending one to Allura. She looked as if she was going to cry even from looking at the lighter he was attempting to hand to her. He took the hint and switched it out for the third, tossing the other aside so it was out of sight for the moment. Allura took a lighter and Keith wrapped his fingers tighter around his own.. The two made eye contact, nodded and lit their joints at the same time. Both took a deep drag. Allura breathed in through her nose, the smoke running through her throat and causing a burning sensation. Keith's eyes watered and he coughed and wheezed.  
"Still don't have the lungs for it I see," Allura laughed at Keith as he finished coughing and clearing his throat.  
"Ugh, shut up," he said and cleared his throat again "You play sports. It's not fair."  
Allura shrugged and laughed as she took another puff. She sat up and blew the smoke in Keith's face, making him cringe. His eyes watered and he rubbed at them with his palm as he groaned slightly. Allura finished hers and took the book from Keith. She sat up against the headboard and placed it on her lap. Then she rolled another joint for herself and began smoking it.  
"So," she prompted, looking at her hands. "What happened with you and the uh, baby blue in order for you to want to get fucked up with me?"  
"Baby blue?" Keith asked looking up at Allura.  
Keith put out his joint and Allura passed him the book, tin, and bag. He took them and nodded at her as she replied, "Yeah, the skinny twink that you ignored me for after school today."  
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he laughed as he lit his second joint.  
"Hey, I can tell who's a twink and who isn't." She took a drag and continued as she exhaled. "And that boy sure as hell is a bottom."  
"He's not a twink. Well, certainly not MY twink," Keith took a small drag and coughed, "He's my stupid English assignment partner."  
"Oh, shut it. Just tell me what the fuck happened between you two." She took a deep inhale and exhaled forcefully. Keith averted his gaze for a moment..  
"Is it my turn to say I'm too fucking sober for this yet?" Keith blew out the last puff of smoke from his mouth and finished his second joint. He turned to Allura and made eye contact with her as she exhaled.  
"I think I'm stoned enough to talk about it," Keith said.  
"Spill."  
"So basically, he came over and when I asked for the subject for our project, he said we should do 'homophobia'. After he said the word, he looked like he was going to cry and-" Keith was cut short as his phone chimed loudly. Keith stood up and got his phone from the beanbag where he had left it.  
"Well, who the hell interrupted your sob story?" Allura asked.  
"How the hell did he get my number?"  
"Adam?"  
Keith nodded.  
Allura looked at her friend on concern. He looked as if he was about to sink to the floor and just give up on himself for today.  
"Keith," she started but decided not to finish it as she saw the tears in his eyes when he turned to her. She extended her arms out and Keith walked over to her. He laid down and wrapped his arms around her in a melancholic embrace.  
"It's been over two years since Adam," she sighed, "He shouldn't still affect you like this."  
Keith sniffled; he looked up at Allura and found that her expression was sorrowful.  
"Why did you look like you had just cried when I picked you up?" he asked again.  
"Well, because I did," she answered simply.  
"You know that's not what I meant."  
"Well, I mean I did have a pretty bad day Keith. My dad left to head back to the lab to research more about the virus with his colleague Coran or whatever his name is. Ezor ignored me and just flicked her ponytail into my face for literally no reason. I literally do not understand her. Somebody vandalized my locker today with homophobic bullshit and things about my fucking mother. How disrespectful can these kids get?"  
She felt furious and yet powerless at these things.  
"That's Ezor's lighter," she continued, nodding to where Keith tossed the device. "She was supposed to come over tonight and we would've had a nice night but..." She stopped mid-sentence and let out a soft sob. She let go of Keith, moved away from him and began to allow sobs to rack her body as she buried her head in one of Keith's pillows. Keith sighed and sat up.  
"You know I'll always be your friend, right?" he said.  
She nodded, her head still buried in the pillow.  
"Well, you should apologize to your dad, you should apologize to Ezor, and you should punch whoever disrespects you next in the face."  
She sat up and wiped at her eyes with the sleeves of her jacket, turning them slightly moist. Then she let out a long sigh..  
"I guess you're right. I only act like an ass to him to try and make him realize I just need a parent in my life." She paused and looked at Keith as she gave a breathy laugh, tears still shining in her eyes. "Also, I've been hanging around with you so much."  
Keith smiled woefully, thinking of just how similar Allura and Lance were. Then he mentally smacked himself as hard as he could. Why did he just think of Lance?  
"I don't know what it is Ezor wants but I should probably ask her," Allura mused.  
Keith nodded in agreement. Allura lay back down and stared at the ceiling for a while; then she closed her eyes.  
"Anyway, I never finished talking about what happened with me and," he brought up, pausing to clear his throat, "the baby blue twink," he said in a mocking accent and Allura burst out laughing. 


End file.
